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Specialty Travel
SPECIALTY TRAVEL, THE GUIDE FOR GROUP TOURS, & LEISURE
…ART, EDUCATIONAL, ECONOMY TRAVEL, ARCHEOLOGY
& CULINARY TOURS WITH UNUSUAL
VACATIONS TO UNIQUE DESTINATIONS
Discover Specialty Travel for economy travel, art, culinary, & educational tours. Enjoy travel & leisure for less to best travel sites with 100 top unusual vacations, adventure travel, unique tours and smart travel. Don’t spend endless hours on the web. Information is right at your finger tips. Let your spirit be aroused by peak experiences, captivating natural settings, and the most popular sights, tours, and activities in the world’s favorite destinations.
If your dream tour is about adventure, nature, archeology, art, history and culture, cooking, wine tasting, dining and culinary, gardening, museums, & travel then let this site put color and sparkle into your next destination.
If you don’t speak a foreign language, don’t want to spend a fortune, not interested in studying maps for hours and deciding where to eat – let an escorted tour solve your problems.
ART ADVENTURES and CULTURAL TOURS
Combine specialty travel with Art Adventures International in private art travel tours through Europe’s museums and historic sites. Experience art, architecture, culture, and cuisine through the eyes of artists and specialists. Discover tours that are lead by artists, designers, and historians. Engage in a dialog and ask questions of experts at a variety of tour sites. Visit private collections and villas off limits to the general public. Find special travel tours with interest in painting, wine tasting, gardening, and cooking.
Rocky Mountain Learning Vacations Retreat, Specialty Travel for the Body, Mind & Spirit
Experience unique Rocky Mountain learning, specialty travel for the body, mind, and spirit. Choose from high quality themed workshops or retreats amidst the soul inspiring Rocky Mountains in Colorado. Enjoy a personalized workshop or retreat in fly-fishing (novice to expert), wellness retreat (body, mind, & spirit), creative writing in mountain side retreat with an award winning author, journaling workshop in mountain side retreat with Holistic Teacher (use for self-help and self-discovery). This specialty travel retreat vacation location has 320 days of sunshine a year.
Rocky Mountain Retreats and Workshops has been highlighted in the following:
- New York Times – “Travel Section”, “Adult Camps”.
- Travel and Leisure Magazine – “Writer Retreats”.
- ”Journaling Magazine”.
COOKING RETREATS
FRANCE:
France Cooking Classes & La Bonne Cocotte with Lydie Marshall
For specialty travel with French culinary classes, try Lydie Marshall. Nestled in the Provence of the bustling town of Nyons,France, students can live and cook in full participatory classes with the well known author of four cook books and culinary master, Lydie Marshall. Her books are: A Passion For Potatoes, A Passion For My Provence, Soup Of The Day, and Slow – Food Comfort, by William Morrow-Harper Collins. She teaches a five day course of seasonal and regional specialties. Her articles have appeared in Food and Wine, the New York Times, Pleasures of Cooking, and Gourmet. Add this to your specialty travel.
ITALY
Specialty travel tourists and wine lovers visiting the Chianti district from all over the world are now enjoying a new experience. They are staying in a historic abbey and experiencing the magic of an encounter with the magic of a unique venue. They are observing the slow yet intense rhythm of the thousand year old abbey and enjoying house wines.
Tuscany Italian Cooking Course
Specialty travel is available for Tuscany, Italy cooking classes in magnificent villa in Florence. Cooking lessons are on Italian Tuscany food. VillaGaiaCookingAndWine.com-is hosted by Isabel Innocenti in Tuscany, Offering Cooking Courses, food tasting and wine, and Tourism in Tuscany. This is a self-catered, fully furnished villa accommodation for great vacations, providing cooking courses.
Guiliano Bugialli Foods of Italy
For specialty travel with Italian culinary classes try Guilliano Bugialli in Forence, Italy. His public is extremely loyal, returning again and again to his classes on tour and to school in Florence. His charming Florentine accent reminds them that he is the real thing.
He appears in about 45 America and Canadian cities each year, and often in Australia and European countries. His bestseller Foods of Italy has been translated into French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, and has its own British edition. In 1987 Foods of Italy was the first Italian cookbook ever, written in English, to be translated back into Italian for the home country.
MEXICO:
CULINARY ADVENTURES with Marilyn Tausend
Cookbook author and Mexican culinary guide, Marilyn Tausend, has been conducting specialty travel trips to Mexico for 18 years. They have been highlighted in many publications including; Gourmet, Travel and Leisure, Food Arts, and Bon Appetit. Her newest cookbook, Mexican, was published by Williams-Sonoma in 2003.
Marilyn will be doing a trip to a wonderful retreat hideaway overlooking the valley of Teotitlan del Valley in Oaxaca during one of the major village festivals.
Hacienda Maya features a School of Culinary Arts for specialty travel with off the beaten path tours,a large selection of customizing wedding services and event planning,personal chef services for private parties, corporate team building, and music and entertainment bookings.
The Hacienda Maya School of Culinary Arts offers classes with Mayan Chef Pedro Balam Dzul in authentic dishes of the Maya. Mexican, and Mestizo – a culinary experience of flavorful spices and scrumptious dishes such as the Mayan Pibil Sauce, the famous festival dish Mole ( a chocolate chili sauce) and fresh wild Mayan lobster flambéed by the table and accompanied with a Caesar salad.
You can also enjoy other activities such as Mayan Retreats, celebrate a wedding, dine at a VIP Romantic Dinner, Corporate Team Building,bird watching,archeological sites, deep sea fishing, snorkeling, and scuba diving.
JAPAN
A TASTE O:F CULTURE. Hungry to learn more about Japan?
This specialty travel combines a TASTE OF CULTURE culinary arts program combines food lore with practical tips and skill-building lessons about Japanese food. Programs offer a unique opportunity for residents of Japan and visitors from overseas to explore and enjoy Japanese culture through its food. Instruction is in English.
Find France specialty travel walking tours and travel plus off the beaten path cooking class, wine tours, and historical treasure hunting as below:
- Walking Everyday –History and Art Walks, Walks with Winegrowers, Castle Walking and other interesting experiences on all tours…
- Learn wine tasting and blending at a workshop with matching dinner and>instructions on Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Provence Tours.
- Creative Cooking Classes with a distinguished French Chef on Bordeaux, Burgundy, Loire Valley, and Paris culinary tours.
- Feasting on a Michelin Gourmet Dinner served with Grand Cru wine.
- Shopping at the Art Craftsmen, Artist, and Antique Markets on Provence and Paris Tours.
- Recreational walks, wine tasting tours & travel at the 1st grown estates at Bordeaux, Provence, Loire Valley Tours.
- Transportation for tours is provided by a 9 person minivan (No Bus).
ARCHEOLOGY
ENGLAND:
The Eden Project Cornwall All Year, All Weather Attraction, Eden Project
Discover all year specialty travel with The Eden Project, Cornwall’s premier quality attraction, drawing two million people a year from all over the world. This enlightenment travel is all weather venue in Cornwall with the largest domes in Europe.
Time Travel Tours : Historical UK Tours
Archeology tours feature specialty travel to ancient landmarks and historic sites throughout England, from prehistoric to Tudor.
IRELAND
Orkney Archaeology Tours in Ireland
For specialoty travel, ORKNEY is world famous for its spectacular archeology, the Neolithic village of Skara Brae, Maes Howe chambered tomb, and the mysterious henge monuments of Brodgar and Stenness – part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
INTERNATIONAL
Arts and Music Tours in Europe and USA
Savor art and music tours plus outstanding gastronomy in Paris, Leipzig, London, Hollywood Bowl, Moravia, Bucharest, Berlin, and Vienna with the world’s leading conductors and orchestras. Enjoy great travel tours and restaurants that are not touristy.
Enjoy specialty travel with noted scholars who are spellbinding lecturers that have a strong desire to share their in depth knowledge with you so that you can visual for yourself the importance and influence of significant parts of the world. Distinguished scholars offer highly personalized educational archaeological, cultural, and historical travel tours around the world.
These specialty tours and travel are superbly researched and planned which makes them special. These unusual vacations include person to person service and opportunities to sample the local markets, cultural events, and local cuisine.
Choose from archaeological tours of Central & South America, Asia, Middle East & Arabia , India & the Himalayas, Europe, and North & Sub-Sahara.
BLOG ARTICLES About Specialty Travel, Guided Europe Tours, Trip Tours
Winter Vacations in Greece
By Claire Jeffreys, eHow Contributor updated: May 12, 2010
I want to do this! Greece is a great vacation destination all year round. The small European country of Greece sits between Italy and Turkey and is a popular vacation destination throughout the year. While the temperature is cooler in the winter months, it is still generally mild and pleasant. There are many cultural centers offering sightseeing and gastronomical experiences all year long, and during the winter the Greek mountains are ideal for those who enjoy snow sports.
- True Greece: True Antiquity
The city of Athens is full of cultural highlights. True Greece offers a winter vacation sightseeing tour package from November to March. The 10-day “True Antiquity” trip departs from Athens and stops in Arachova, Nafplion, Delphi, Corinth and Mycenae, taking in the rich history of the small villages and ancient ruins of mainland Greece. Highlights include a climb to the Parthenon in Athens, the fifth century BC temple at the Acropolis (“peak of the city”), and the famous archaeological site of Delphi.
TrueGreece (U.S.), LLC 336 Bon Air Center, Greenbrae, CA 94904 1-800-817-7098 truegreece.com
- Antelope Travel: Greece Classical Winter Package
The Greece Classical Winter Package visits many Greek temples, monasteries and other historical sites The Greece Classical Winter Package by Antelope Travel is a nine-day trip that operates every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, visiting the landmarks around Athens and Mount Parnassos. The tour includes a night tour of Athens and visits to Syntagma Square, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Epidarus ampitheatre, the archaeological site of Olympia and the Meteora monasteries. In addition to the arranged excursions there is plenty of free time for guests to spend as they wish.
Antelope Travel P. Faliro Promitheos 34 Street Athens, Greece 0030-210-94-20-984 antelope-travel.com
- Antelope Travel: Fly and Drive Package
A self-drive tour in Greece is an ideal way to visit some of its cultural centers. Antelope Travel also offer self-drive tours in mainland Greece every winter. There is a choice of five-day, six-day and eight-day tours departing from Athens and stopping at interesting sightseeing spots, including Delphi, Meteora and Kalambaka. The trip includes accommodation, breakfast and car hire.
Antelope Travel P. Faliro Promitheos 34 Street Athens, Greece 0030-210-94-20-984 antelope-travel.com
- Parnassos Ski Center
A winter vacation in Greece is great for skiing. A winter vacation in Greece is the perfect opportunity to enjoy snow sports; central Greece is home to some of the country’s biggest mountains, such as Mount Parnassos. Gerondovrahos, Kellaria and Fterolakka, which combine to form one of the most modern ski centers in Greece with a wide range of downhill runs and aerial lifts. Many options for lodging in the area include the chalets in the village of Arachova, situated on the slopes of Parnassos.
Parnassos Ski Center 32004 Fterolokka Parnassos, Greece 0030-223-40-22-315 parnassos-ski.gr
Escorted Tours of France
Contributor By Christa Kerley, eHow Contributing Writer
I want to do this! France is the most modern country in the world according to the Central Intelligence Agency. According to the Central Intelligence Agency, France is one of the most modern countries in the world and the largest in western Europe. France is also the world’s most visited country, with more than 44 million tourists vacationing in Paris alone. There are a number of tour companies that offer tours of France, and a great number of them feature escorted tours. Normally all services during an escorted tour, including the tour guide, accommodations and transportation are handled by a tour director from the beginning of a tour to end.
- En France Tours
En France Tours, operating since 1987, is headquartered out of Washington State and offers five escorted tours to France. En France Tours has three professional tour guides, all of whom are bilingual and bicultural. Billie Williams, founder of En France Tours has over 20 years of planning and guiding experience. Most tours are accompanied by two escorts, and at least one hired local English-speaking guide. Group tours are between six to eight people, however, En France Tours does offer escorted individual tours as well. Their Best of Provence Tour is eight days and seven nights, and normally runs in early July. Some scenic highlights are: walks through the vineyards of Côtes du Rhône, visits to historic Roman ruins, and stops to meet traditional French artisans.
En France Tours 5016 Brassfield Dr SE Olympia WA 98506 360-352-8236 enfrancetours.com
- Grand European Tours
Grand European Tours, a US based touring company, offers tourists a 16 day escorted tour of France, called the Grand Tour de France. The tour begins in Paris and continues through Burgundy to the Pont du Gard in Avignon. Visitors will continue to Nice to visit Monte Carlo and Cote d’Azur. Other stops on the tour agenda are: the Roman Arena, and Maison Carre in Nimes, Carcassonne, Lourdes, Bordeaux and the Chateau de Chenonceau in Blois. Service that are included in the tour packages are first class hotel accommodations, professional tour director, local tour guide, transportation, four three-course dinners including tea and coffee, two “highlight” dinners and one dine out dinner.
Grand European Tours 6000 Meadows Road Suite 520 Lake Oswego Oregon 97035 800-552-5545 getours.com
- French Travel Connection
The French Travel Connection has both group escorted tours and private escorted tours to France. Headquartered out of Australia, the French Travel Connection tour company has six featured escorted tours to a variety of French regions. Group tours vary in duration from three to 17 days with a maximum of 50 people. Tour regions include: Somme, Loire Valley, Bordeaux, Dordogne Lyon, Burgundy, Champagne, Provence, and the French Riviera. The private escorted tours vary from one to nine days, for a minimum of two persons with a maximum of six, except for the Normandy day trip, which does permit eight persons per tour. Some regions visited on the private escorted tours are: Normandy, the South West, Carcassonne, Sebastian, and Toulouse. All tours are fully escorted by professional bilingual tour guides. Tours included transportation, two-star hotel accommodations and meals.
French Travel Connection 601/83 Mount St North Sydney, Australia NSW 2060 +011-61-2-9966-1177 frenchtravel.com.au
Educational Tours of Greece
By Josh Vogt, eHow Contributor
updated: March 23, 2010
I want to do this! Uncover Greek history with an educational tour. Tours of Greece may feature awe-inspiring sights such as the Parthenon or Athena’s temple, but a tour can be much more satisfying if you learn something along the way. Educational tours of Greece can help you dig deeper into Greek history, mythology and culture.
- EF Educational Tours
EF Educational Tours invites students and teachers to explore the world outside the classroom without leaving learning behind. Greece comes to life through the Grecian Odyssey Tour, which is led by EF Tour Directors and educators, along with licensed guides who provide in-depth facts about each area visited. Nine to 12 days of travel include Greek educational highlights like the history of Zeus’ temple, the artifacts within the Olympian Museum and an optional coastal cruise along Athens. Other options include adding Italy, Turkey or Spain to the itinerary. Teachers and chaperones travel for free.
EF Educational Tours 1 Education Street Cambridge, MA 02141 877-205-9909 eftours.com
- Global Educational Travel
Global Educational Travel strives to provide its customers with safe and affordable educational tours of Greece. Choose from tours that range from less than 10 days to over a month in duration. Go island hopping in the Mediterranean, visit Hellas and Crete or take the 15-day classical tour of Greece, which begins and ends in Athens. Travelers and students discover the meaning behind Greek monuments, tour religious and political sites such as Delos and visit archaeological museums to uncover local history.
Global Educational Travel 2148-20800 Westminster Highway Richmond, BC V6V 2W3 Canada 800-665-3998 globaleducationaltravel.com
- Educational Tours & Cruises
Offering 10- to- 17-day tours of Greece, Educational Tours & Cruises has a variety of trips, each focusing on different aspects of the country. Try the art tour, which not only covers local art history but gives you the chance to work on your art with a painting instructor on the island of Santorini. Or go for a hiking tour of Mount Olympos, Mount Pelion and Greek islands such as Meteora and Delphi. Lecturers and guides provide a unique Greek cultural experience.
Educational Tours & Cruises 4321 Lakemore Drive Wilmington, NC 28405 800-275-4109 ed-tours.com
- Sporades Tours
Sporades Tours educational trips to Greece are all led by Dick Caldwell, a retired professor whose educational expertise centers on the Mediterranean history, culture and literature. From museums to archaeological digs to hidden villages and islands, this tour provides an incredible inside view of Greece. The tour price includes all transportation, lodging, food and services. You can also start and stop the tour any day you want while it is running, and simply pay for the days you attend.
Sporades Tours 13101 Laurinda Way Santa Ana, CA 92705 714-744-9188 sporadestours.com
Vacation Tours of Sicily & Italy
Contributor By Katie Arcieri, eHow Contributing Writer
Whether you’re a regular visitor to Italy or stepping into the country for the first time, there are numerous tours available to you. Tour companies provide visitors with a chance to explore the ancient city of Rome, glide down Venetian canals in a gondola and stand at the foot of snow-capped active volcano Mount Etna in Sicily, an island region of Italy.
- Italy North Continental; Sicily
Guiding tours through its native homeland since 1945, the Perillo family developed this fast-paced trip that takes tourists through roughly a dozen Italian cities in two weeks. The escorted trip begins at Lugano, a picturesque town in south Switzerland, and meanders through Venice, the countryside of Florence, and Pisa, where guests can see the famed Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Tourists experience the Mediterranean coastline in the cities of Sorrento and Capri before ending up in Rome to visit the Colosseum, the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel, the home of Michelangelo’s famed frescoes. This trip is designed for those who want to dine on their own. But you’ll have plenty of help choosing where to eat: Tour guides offer several suggestions, and the trip includes generous breakfast buffets.
In addition to its continental Italian tours, Perillo recently added a nine-day trip that begins in Sicily’s capital, Palermo, with a free dinner, as well as tours to the city’s breathtaking cathedral and chapel. The trip guarantees sightseeing opportunities in the beautiful coastal town of Taormina. It also includes a visit to Mount Etna, one of the most active volcanoes in Europe, according to Time Magazine.
Perillo Tours Perillo Plaza 577 Chestnut Ridge Road Woodcliff Lake, NJ 07677 (800) 431-1515 perillotours.com
- A Taste of Italy
Globus Escorted Tours offers a weeklong vacation that includes guided tours of Italy, but allows visitors to explore independently. “The Taste of Italy” tour starts with guided trips to Rome’s most treasured landmarks including the Colosseum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Square. After the first three and a half days in Rome, guests travel along the “Highway of the Sun” to Tuscany and then to Florence to see the famous David statue by Michelangelo, and numerous other sculptures in Signoria Square.
Then it’s off to Venice for a private boat ride and a walking tour that takes tourists through the Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Square, Venice’s main square. The trip also provides one day to explore Venice by yourself. While on your own, you may happen upon artisans practicing the ancient art of glass-blowing.
Globus 5301 S. Federal Circle Littleton, CO 80123 (866) 755-8581 globusjourneys.com
- Country Roads of Southern Italy and Sicily
Those looking to explore southern Italy may consider “Country Roads of Southern Italy and Sicily.” Offered by Insight Vacations, the 14-day trip begins in Rome but focuses primarily on southeastern Italy and Sicily.
Tourists will discover the off-the-beaten-path town of Alberobello in the Trulli region of Italy before heading to the craggy mountaintops of Calabria and hopping a ferry to Sicily. Next, you can soak up the sun–and stunning ocean views–at a resort in the Sicilian tourist town of Giardini Naxos. Guests can relax at the beach or take an optional trip to Mount Etna. Additionally, the package provides visits to Palermo and ends the Sicilian portion of the trip with a ferry to Naples.
Insight Vacations Inc. 801 Katella Ave. Anaheim, CA 92805 (800) 582-8380 insightvacations.com
Paris Culinary Schools
Contributor By Veronica Summers, eHow Contributing Writer
I want to do this! Learn to bake delectable macarons at Lenotre Culinary School. When dining in Paris, you’ll understand why many Parisians consider eating an art form. From the use of fresh local produce to the wait staff’s professionalism, dining at a fine Parisian restaurant is a unique experience. To bring a taste of France back home with you, consider enrolling in a cooking class in Paris. Classes range from week-long professional-level classes to half-day seminars for casual cooks.
- Ritz Escoffier School
Housed in one of the most elegant hotels in Paris and named after the father of French cuisine, Auguste Escoffier, the Ritz Escoffier School offers classes for professional chefs and amateur gourmets. If you are visiting Paris, check out one of the many cooking workshops focusing on a particular technique or type of meal, such as “Fitness, Health and Flavor,” “Extreme Chocolates” or “7 to 9 Pastry.” Workshops range from two to four hours and involve learning about ingredients and techniques, preparing and cooking a meal, then eating your creations with a glass of fine wine at the end of the class. The classes are in French with an English translator, and the classrooms are beautiful as well as functional with navy blue top-of-the-line appliances and antique copper pots. The Ritz also offers cooking classes for children, and if you prefer a liquid meal, cocktail mixing classes by the famous Hemingway Bar mixologists.
Ritz Escoffier School 15 Place Vendôme Paris, France 75001 011-33-01-43-16-30-30 ritzparis.com
- Le Cordon Bleu
Founded in 1896, The Cordon Bleu’s philosophy is “l’Art de Vivre,” or the Art of Living Well. In classes at the Cordon Bleu in Paris, you’ll learn how to cook using modern methods while appreciating the traditions of classical French cooking. Choose from dozens of hands-on courses ranging from two hours to two days in length. A few examples include Food and Wine Pairing, Desserts in a Glass, French Regional Cuisine Discovery and The Chef’s Choice-Foie Gras. Professional chefs can obtain their Le Grande Diplome Le Cordon Bleu in under a year of study, and join the ranks of Michelin starred chefs who have graduated from Le Cordon Bleu. Julia Child also studied here and received her degree in 1950. The classes are in French and English.
Le Cordon Bleu 8 Rue Léon Delhomme Paris, France 75015 011-33-01-53-68-22-50 cordonbleu.edu
- Lenotre Culinary School
Lenotre is one of the most famous patisseries in Paris. To pass on the art of making delectable desserts, Gaston Lenotre founded the Lenotre Culinary School in 1971. Today, in an elegant mansion constructed in 1900 off the Champs Elysees , you can learn how to create macarons, a Parisian specialty, home-made ice creams and pastries, like millefeuilles, as well as terrines and foie gras in half-day cooking classes. A rudimentary knowledge of French is helpful, although the detailed examples and small class sizes may make it easy for you to follow even if you are not fluent in French. Professional classes are also available in 50 different area of expertise including confectionery, catering and bread making. Professional classes are three to five days in length.
Lenotre Culinary School 10 avenue des Champs Elysées Paris, France 75008 011-33-01-42-65-85-10 lenotre.fr
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